masquerade
n. C / Un. a party where people wear masks and costumes. It can also mean a situation where someone is pretending to be something they are not.
n. a social gathering or ball where participants wear masks and elaborate costumes. In a figurative sense, refers to a false outward show or a deceptive appearance.
The guests arrived at the masquerade in beautiful silk masks.
The spy's entire life was a masquerade designed to gain the trust of high-ranking officials.
What began as a simple masquerade for the festival soon evolved into a complex web of mistaken identities and unintended romantic entanglements.
The noun is borrowed from Middle French mascarade, masquarade, masquerade (modern French mascarade (“masquerade, masque; farce”)), and its etymon Italian mascherata (“masquerade”), from maschera (“mask”) + -ata. Maschera is derived from Medieval Latin masca (“mask”): see further there. The English word is cognate with Late Latin masquarata, Portuguese mascarada, Spanish mascarada. The verb is derived from the noun.
Often used with the preposition 'as' when describing a person's false identity.